Alive
by HHH1
Summary: Roman Torchwick was many things; a liar, a cheater, a thief, and a survivor. Neo was the only one who knew him as anything else. Now he wakes up in the wreckage of a crashed airship, alive but exhausted, and she was nowhere in sight. He needed to find her, to know that she was safe. Nothing else mattered.
AN: Here's a little something I've been working on in my spare time. To anyone that reads my other current story, Fall, Rise, Fall, don't worry; the next update hasn't been pushed to the wayside in any way by me writing this. Anyways, this story came up primarily because I really wanted to write something that focused on Roman and Neo. So, with that little tidbit now out of the way, enjoy.

* * *

Roman Torchwick woke up to find his ship a smoldering wreck, himself sitting right in the middle of it as the flames burned away at the ship's steel frame. He took a moment to just stare at the sight in a daze, the events leading up to this flashing rapidly in his mind.

Red had thought to play the hero again, and he had just about had it with her little fantasies. It didn't take very long before she ended up hanging on the edge of the airship, clinging on to her oversized gardening implement for dear life to avoid a rather steep fall to the streets below.

Then Lady Luck decided to be fickle with him, and Red found it in her to pop Neo's parasol open and send her flying off into the skies, which were positively _teeming_ with Grimm. To add even more insult to injury, she then ended up getting her second wind and started putting up a fight again, rattling off something about how she didn't care about what he had to say, that she'd stop him no matter what.

Roman didn't fully remember what he was feeling at that point, most of it being nothing but pure rage at Red for her stubbornness. Such turned him into the perfect meal of negativity for the Grimm, making him a prime feast for any Griffon that felt a little hungry.

At least, if they were keeping their eyes on him, they wouldn't be going after Neo as she floated away.

Maybe that's why he ended up letting himself rant, words descending into a full on monologue (something he just _hated_ doing) as he turned himself into a beacon for the Grimm to focus their attention on.

Or maybe Red's odd brand of idealism struck just a little too close to home for him. She reminded him of himself once upon a time, and the thought alone made his blood boil with bitterness. The world of Remnant was a cold, unforgiving place, and he was intent on making her see that fact as early as possible.

The griffon that swallowed him whole didn't really care either way. A meal was a meal, after all, and he was the main course.

It all went black for a moment as he felt himself being lifted up in its jaws, only to subsequently be sent falling down into the winged Grimm's empty pit of a stomach.

It felt so _cold_ in there, nothing but nothing accompanying him in an empty void of black. He shuddered at the thought of having to go through _that_ again.

Thankfully, _something_ happened to the massive Grimm that got him out of there. What it was, he didn't know, but he was thanking whatever gods he could think of for their sudden act of kindness. All that really mattered was that he was out, and that he was alive.

 _He always did say he'd survive, right?_

He chuckled to himself as he recalled the last line he had uttered to Red before he was rudely interrupted. It was a perfectly ironic way for him to "die", at least.

Maybe now, he could finally disappear, pretend he had been lost in the crash of the airship, never to be seen again. Where he'd go from there, he didn't know, but it would no doubt be _far_ away from all of this, away from anywhere Cinder could find him.

He shook his head.

He could think about how to do that later; right now, he had to get out of here, preferably without any more close encounters with the cold embrace of death.

He got to his feet, his legs almost giving out from exhaustion as he did so; maybe that Griffon had done more than he had given it could credit for. He took his steps slowly and carefully, eventually finding himself back in the city of Vale, the streets in complete chaos as the Grimm and huntsmen struggled against each other.

He kept Melodic Cudgel close in hand; just in case he needed it. Thankfully, he was able to slip into the alleys without too much trouble, unnoticed amidst all the confusion.

He leaned against the wall, exhausted from the exertion. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he pulled out his scroll (his spare one: the other was probably lost when the airship crashed).

Running his fingers across the screen, he pulled up Neo on his text messages, keying in something quickly as he looked over his shoulder in case anyone tried sneaking up on him.

 **[Neo, I'm in the city. Damn airship crashed on me. Red ran off somewhere, I think. Where are you?]**

He pocketed the scroll, not expecting her to answer anytime soon. Continuing onwards, he kept a steady pace as he made his way through the small shortcuts through the urban jungle that he knew like the back of his hand.

There were only a handful of blocks left before he made it to the edges of the city.

He pulled out his scroll again. Still no answer from Neo.

' _Odd, you would think I would've gotten at least something by now…'_

He typed out a quick message, followed by a hurried press of the send button.

 **[Neo?]**

Nothing. Almost subconsciously, he picked up the pace, trying to find someplace safe so he could put more attention towards dealing with this issue. He couldn't let himself get worried just yet; it'd only serve to attract more Grimm to his position, and he really didn't have the time for them right now.

A lone Beowolf blocked his path, sniffing the air as it searched for new victims. It turned its burning red eyes on him, roaring not a moment after.

' _Crap…'_

He pointed Melodic Cudgel and fired the cane in the blink of an eye. The shot sailed clean through the air and struck the charging Grimm square in the face, killing it in an instant, its body fading into nothing not long after hitting the ground.

That wasn't what concerned him, however.

That roar it gave before it died had no doubt drawn some attention to him, and he had to move quickly before any more Grimm caught his scent.

He was running as fast as he could, taking every shortcut he could remember existing in this part of town. A quick look over his shoulder gave him the sight of a couple of Beowolves pursuing him.

Not too bad, he supposed; a few Beowolves he could handle without too much trouble, even in his current condition. Still, he couldn't afford to stop and fight them here; too much risk that he'd get caught by yet more Grimm, ones that might not be so easy to handle.

He kept up his frantic run towards the city outskirts; a place that the Grimm should've avoided, for the most part, given the absolute cacophony of fear, anger, and violence in Vale proper providing a much more enticing meal than a few scared rural folks that had probably already evacuated by now.

He could already see his destination, marked by the end of the towering buildings and the beginning of sprawling forests and scattered homes. Just a little longer, and he'd be home free after he took care of his pursuers (who, he noted, had just added a Beowolf alpha to their numbers).

He broke into a final sprint as the last of the city gave way to thick trees, gaining as much distance as he could before spinning around and taking aim with his cane.

He had managed to lose a few of the Beowolves with that, though there were still easily a dozen hurdling towards him as he fired a shot at one of them, the resulting explosion taking down three. He repeated this for as long as he could, and by the time that one of the Grimm reached him, he had whittled them down to only three, one of them being the alpha, who was circling him warily as the other two charged in with reckless abandon.

Neither lasted very long, both going down with a few crushing strikes to the head and fading away. However, the alpha rushed in as Roman finished off the last one, slamming into him with a ruthless charge to his exposed back.

He found himself on the ground face first, his aura straining as it held off the alpha's flurry of swipes at his back. He pushed himself up off the ground, the alpha leaping off and landing a short distance away from him as he whirled around to face it.

Both stared at each other, neither making a move. Before either did anything, however, a brilliant flash of white light erupted through the sky overhead, both of them turning their heads up to look with surprise clear on their features.

The light was centered on what looked like the tower at Beacon, though he couldn't make it out very well given the sheer distance. Slowly, the light faded, midnight black quickly regaining its dominance over the night sky.

He returned his attention to the alpha, but it didn't do the same with him. Instead, it kept its gaze towards the source of the flash, and for some reason, he saw it shaking; trembling, even, if he thought that such was possible for a Grimm.

Regardless, in an instant, it spun on its heel, running away on all fours with what sounded like whimpers of fear escaping its mouth. He kept his cane pointed at it just in case as it disappeared into the distance, lowering it once he was satisfied that it wouldn't be coming back anytime soon.

 _It seemed that he had something else to be thankful for._

Of course, he could get all his debts to the various deities in existence out of the way later.

Right now, all he did was let himself sit down, leaning back against a tree as he took a sigh of relief.

He pulled out his scroll again. Still no word from Neo. His breath hitched in his throat as he texted again.

 **[Are you still floating down?]**

They had been rather high up, after all, and the wind, combined with her rather small stature, probably made the trip down take even longer.

Surely, she was just floating somewhere in the skies. He didn't even _want_ to think about any alternatives to that.

 **[I just thought that you'd be down by now. Text me when you can.]**

He pocketed the scroll again, leaning his head back against the tree as he let his eyes close.

Neo would be down soon, she'd text him back, they'd go find each other, and they could finally disappear from all of this quietly.

Where they'd go from there, he didn't know.

They certainly weren't staying in Vale; that was for sure. Assuming there was anything left of it after Cinder was done with it, of course. The same applied to Mistral; her influence was even more extensive over there than it was here, and there was no way they'd be able to hide from her in those places, no matter what they did or how well they covered their tracks.

That, of course, left Atlas and Vacuo. Well, really, that only left Vacuo; even if Cinder wasn't all that well established in Atlas, his time aboard General Ironwood's personal flagship's brig had probably already turned him into a wanted person over in the northern continent, if he wasn't already.

Vacuo it was, then. Not exactly a place he liked, admittedly, but it was a fairly obvious choice for someone that wanted to blend in and hide from searching eyes. The kingdom had always been a haven of sorts; Roman even recalled that one White Fang deserter, Tukson, he believed his name was, trying to escape there.

Roman knew all about it, of course, letting the man try his luck so he could see how good his own chances were, should he ever have to try the same thing once Cinder's plans inevitably went south for him. A pity that Cinder's pet henchmen had to step in before he could see the results of his little gamble, but he had been able to play it off well enough to avoid any suspicions upon himself.

Of course, that meant that he had no idea how trying his luck in Vacuo would turn out, though a single test case probably wasn't that good of an indicator, anyways. He didn't mind taking his chances for himself, though he wasn't quite as willing to do the same with Neo.

She deserved better than this, and he hated having to force her into this life just so the two of them could have some semblance of security. Crime paid well, however, and as unfortunate as it sounded, money talks in the real world.

He hoped that they could get a chance to start over somewhere else. They could have a new life, one that would be a clean slate for both of them. He'd go do some quiet job that paid the bills, she'd go do something that would no doubt make him proud to call himself her father (adoptive father, anyways), and they could live out their days in peace.

At least, that's how he hoped everything would play out.

Fate was a fickle mistress. She hadn't been very kind in recent years, either.

She still wasn't being very kind even now.

He pulled out his scroll to find that he still hadn't received an answer.

 _Where was she?_

That one question dominated his thoughts as he typed something down on the screen, sending it without a moment's delay.

 **[You have to be down by now…where are you?]**

Nothing. He tried not to let himself get too worked up over the lack of response as he sent another text.

 **[Neo? This isn't very funny, if that's what you're going for…]**

She had to be, right? There was no way she wasn't down on the ground already; it had been far too long by now. If that was the case, then why wasn't she answering his texts?

He pushed any dark thoughts out of his mind, not wanting to entertain the possibility of something happening to her.

She was probably up in the trees, silently giggling to herself as she watched him squirm. Yes, that was it! She was an odd girl like that, and he was certain that this was what she was after.

 **[Neo, I swear if this is one of your damn games again…]**

He couldn't even bring himself to be angry with her. She had that odd effect on him, especially when he was in a good mood.

 **[…just text me back, okay?]**

No response. That was fine by him, at least for now (he could get back at her for making him worry like this later). Right now, however, he needed to see her, to know that she was safe, which he was certain that she was.

 **[If I didn't know any better, I'd start getting worried.]**

He paused for a second, trying to make sure that he wasn't.

 **[I don't need to do that, right, Neo?]**

Of course he didn't. He didn't have to worry about her; she was a strong girl, he had raised her better than to let something like this get the best of her. He was even certain that he'd bite the dust far before she ever did, and since he clearly hadn't yet, there was no way she had, either.

 _Then why isn't she answering?_

He couldn't find an answer, and it scared him more than anything else ever had. His heartbeat was getting faster and his breaths grew more rapid as he texted again.

 **[You're okay, right?]**

Nothing. He was desperately trying to convince himself that such wasn't necessarily a bad thing. So far, he was succeeding, if only just barely.

 **[I hope that means yes.]**

He put his scroll back into his pocket, hoping that a little time away from the device would help to calm his nerves. Somewhere along the way, he also convinced himself to take a very brief nap, hoping that when he woke up, she'd be right next to him, cuddled up in that oddly adorable way in his arms, the hellish night before being nothing more than a bad memory.

His eyes shut, and his consciousness drifted before his dreams finally took him.

When he woke up, he was standing on some kind of cliff overlooking Vale, still in the middle of a raging street war between Grimm and huntsmen, if the roaring fires and sounds of guns firing were any indication.

The most prominent thing he could see was the flaming wreck of an airship, crashed directly in the center of the city. It looked oddly familiar.

' _Wait a second…'_

Come to think of it, he _did_ recognize the airship. It was the one he had been on earlier, the one he had hijacked, only to subsequently lose after Red showed up.

Why was he here, of all places?

Yes, the ship was effectively useless to Cinder, and she probably would be rather…displeased (an understatement, really) with that fact, but it wouldn't really matter if she thought that he was dead, right? No one was going to miss him; all they'd do was just shrug off his death and spit on his grave, wherever they decided to put it, if they even remembered _that_ much.

He didn't mind that one bit, either; being dead had its benefits.

Just as he moved to walk away, he heard the sound of…crying?

' _What…?'_

He turned to where it was coming from, and he saw Neo, sitting on the ground near the edge, curled up with her head to her knees, trembling periodically with what he assumed to be sobs.

Odd, shouldn't she be happy to see him? He was expecting her to immediately throw her arms around him and never let go, not curl up into a little ball like she was trying to cry herself to sleep.

Next to her, he noticed a scroll lying face up on the ground, opened to show text messages.

He read them, and he could've sworn that his heart just ripped itself open as he did so.

 **[Roman, I made it down, but I'm really far from the ship right now.]**

 **[Can you come pick me up if you're done fighting Red?]**

 **[You** _ **are**_ **done, right?]**

 **[Hello?]**

 **[Roman?]**

 **[Roman, this isn't very funny…]**

 **[I see a cliff, and I'm heading up there now. You can't miss me from there, right?]**

 **[Did the airship just crash!? Roman, are you alright!?]**

 **[Are you trapped somewhere!? Where are you!?]**

 **[Answer me, please!]**

 **[Roman, don't do this to me!]**

 **[Just…tell me you're alright…]**

 **[Please…don't leave me all alone again…]**

 **[I need you, Roman…]**

 **[You're all I have…]**

Rapidly taking his attention off of the scroll after he read the last text, he turned around to face Neo, wanting to try to show her that he wasn't gone, and that he wasn't going to leave her all alone in this world.

He wanted to hold her close, wrapped up tightly in his arms as he dried her tears.

So he could show her that he would always be there for her.

So he could let her know that she could stop crying now.

So he could see that beautiful smile that she only showed him, and no one else.

So he could be a real father to her, if only for a moment.

But she was gone, not a single trace of her anywhere. He even turned back to where the scroll was, only to find that even it was missing, as well.

A sense of dread came over him, and he felt an uncontrollable urge to look over the edge of the cliff.

He could've sworn that he wasn't dreaming when he saw what was at the bottom.

He averted his eyes from the sight, dropping to the ground on his knees, his fists pounding the ground in a blind rage.

A part of him told him that he was just dreaming, that this was all just a nightmare his mind had conjured up to torment him for whatever twisted reasons it had to do so. That if he woke up, she'd be right next to him, wondering what was wrong.

He wasn't listening to that part, however.

This dream felt so _real_ , like this was exactly what had happened to her.

When he looked down that cliff, the rest of him took what it saw at face value, and it was wracked by pure grief as a result.

 _Why did he let this happen?_

No answers were coming up, and he cursed himself for that.

She was _his_ daughter, _he_ was supposed to protect her!

Yet there she was, gone because he wasn't there for her when she needed him the most.

 _How could he call himself a father to her?_

The simple answer for him was that he just couldn't. What had he done to deserve her? Nothing.

Sure, he had taken her off the streets when she was no older than her early teens, but that would only end up bringing her into a life of crime that he was certain that she didn't ask for.

Sure, he would be the one to comfort her whenever the odd nightmare came about, but he was never able to keep them from happening in the first place.

Sure, he did what he could to look out for her, but she was more often than not the one saving _him_ , and she didn't even ask for anything in return.

She was a wonderful daughter, of that, he had absolutely no doubts.

He wasn't so sure about himself.

He just sat there on the ground, too tired to even let the tears flow. Somewhere along the way, his eyes fell shut again, and he woke up from this living nightmare with a gasp as his eyes flew open again.

He woke up next to the tree again, his back sore from the stiff position he had been lying against it. It was morning now, based off the dull light the sun was giving off as it rose over the horizon.

Almost immediately after he woke up, he pulled out his scroll, hoping with all his being that Neo had answered him by now.

She hadn't.

He almost wanted to slam the damned thing into the ground as hard as he could, but he thought better of destroying the one last chance he had at finding her.

Assuming that he could find her at all, that is.

He texted again, fingers shaking as he did so.

 **[Neo, please text me back.]**

He didn't just _want_ an answer. He _needed_ an answer. He needed _something_ to tell him that his dream was just that, and nothing more.

And of course, he received nothing in return.

He typed again.

 **[Please…tell me that you're safe.]**

Then he heard a rustling in the bushes, turning his head instinctively to meet the sound as it grew closer. He prayed to whatever deity that would listen to him that it was Neo.

It wasn't.

Instead, he found himself staring straight into the eyes of a Beowolf Alpha, and he could've sworn that it was the same one from last night, based off the cold, hateful way its eyes bored into him.

It growled menacingly, and he found himself unable to reach for Melodic Cudgel in time before it was already on him, clawing and biting as he desperately held it off.

He kicked it off, trying to aim his cane at it, only for the beast to swipe it away from his hand with a lucky swing, sending it several feet away from the two of them, far outside his reach.

Now he had no weapon to fight back, and fighting a Grimm hand to hand was, for a person like him, effectively the same thing as suicide.

Somehow, the thought didn't scare him anymore.

He closed his eyes as heard the alpha roar, waiting for the inevitable to happen. He heard its footfalls draw closer and closer, followed by the telltale _whoosh_ of air signaling a claw sailing towards him. He only hoped for two things at that point; the first being that this would be quick, and the second being that he get a chance to see Neo in the next life.

He winced as he heard the sound of flesh being pierced.

When he opened his eyes, however, he saw that he was completely unscathed. Turning back to look at the alpha, he saw the glow in its eyes going out as they rolled back into its head, arms going limp before it collapsed to the ground in a heap.

There was a very familiar looking blade sticking out of its head before it evaporated into nothing.

A blade from a parasol, to be exact.

He picked it up in an instant, his eyes focused intently on it as he pushed the extended blade back in.

Then he heard the sound of familiar footsteps from behind him.

He turned around, and he saw Neo, Melodic Cudgel in one hand as she walked up to him.

A wide smile was on her face, and his own quickly matched it as he immediately wrapped her in his arms, and he held her tightly to make sure that he wasn't seeing things.

She responded in kind, and he could have sworn that he felt her trembling in his arms, a moist feeling coming up from where her head buried into his chest.

He kneeled down, meeting her at eye level, her eyes both pink, yet also stained red with tears.

He wiped one of them away, and he asked her something that he had been asking through text for the past night.

"Where were you?"

She held out her hand, shakily forming the words in sign language (he had learned it specifically so he didn't need to have her write down everything she wanted to tell him).

[I was looking everywhere for you! First where the ship crashed, then in the city, then out here.]

She jabbed a finger into his side, an angry look across her features (he could've sworn that one of her eyes flashed red, even). She continued signing frantically.

[I thought I lost you when I couldn't find you anywhere. You didn't even respond to any of my texts!]

As if to emphasize her point, she pulled out her scroll to show him her messages, and he noticed that for some reason, they were the exact same ones that he had seen in his dream earlier. She waved the thing around a bit in his face before continuing.

[Then I found you here, just before you got yourself killed!]

She looked away for a second, the angry look in her face softening, like it genuinely hurt her to say (well, sign) what she was going to next.

[You don't even _want_ to know how scared I was when I saw that thing raise its claw and all you did was close your eyes like you wanted it to happen!]

The tears were flowing out of her eyes again as she held him tightly, almost like she was afraid that she'd lose him if she let go. He wrapped his arms comfortingly around her, letting her get all her fears and worries out of her as he simply rubbed her back soothingly.

Somewhere inside him, he felt glad. Not because he had terrified her so, of course, but because she was even terrified of losing him at all.

Maybe, just maybe, he wasn't such a bad father after all.

He looked her in the eyes (both of which had gone white from fear of losing him), telling her what needed to be said.

"Neo, I'm sorry for putting you through all of that. I went around trying to find you too, and when I couldn't, I got scared, just like you did."

He recalled the horrific dream from earlier, looking regretful at the mere thought of it.

"I thought I lost you out there, and I just…gave up when that thing came for me, and I can't tell you how sorry I am for that."

His eyes had a pleading look in them as he asked her something in a weak voice.

"Can you forgive your idiot of a father for doing that to you?"

Her eyes widened at his question, right before she immediately threw her arms around him, frantically nodding her head as she did so. Happy tears were staining his shirt as she buried herself into his chest.

At that moment, a weight on his shoulders, one that had been on him ever since he woke up from the crash, lifted. He had never felt as light before as he did now; Neo had that odd tendency to always make him feel better.

He quickly enveloped her in a warm embrace, and they stayed wrapped together in each other's arms for what felt like forever. Both would have preferred it to be like that, in all honesty.

Neo's thoughts were focused squarely on the man that had raised her, given her a warm home, given her a new chance at life, and most importantly of all, loved her more than anything else in the world. How could she ever hate him, even for a second? He had given her everything she could have ever wanted, and she would never leave him, not even if the world of Remnant itself demanded it.

Roman's thoughts weren't on their future, on how they'd start over in someplace fresh. Instead, they were focused on his adopted daughter, who he had seen go from a terrified little girl to a strong, beautiful young woman, and he felt nothing but pride at that fact. She was one of the few good things his name was attached to in this world, and he would never stop loving her.

They were a family, not a typical one, by any standards, but a family nonetheless. In all honesty, they felt that they were better off than most.

After all, they had each other, and sometimes, that was all they needed.

"Come on, Neo. Let's get out of here."

She nodded, falling into step with him by his side.

Both smiled happily as they walked away, neither quite sure of what was to come.

It didn't matter either way; whatever fate had in store for them, they would face it head on.

They would face it together.

As a father and daughter.

As a family.

* * *

AN: Headcanon is telling me that while Roman did survive (though yes, I know that RT confirmed his death), he still has to disappear from the canon story, as he generally isn't fitting the darker tone that RWBY is heading towards. However, instead of killing him, doing this effectively removes him and Neo from the story while still giving them a happy ending, of sorts. That was pretty much my rationale behind writing this story, though I think this is pretty much going to stay as a one-shot. I'm fairly certain that this is pretty much nothing but pure non-canon fiction, but then again, that's the interesting thing about fan fics, isn't it?

Well, there's my rambling done. Thank you very much for reading, and I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please don't hesitate to leave a review if you are so inclined, and stay safe.


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